Case Study: CA Health Care Foundation

Medi-Cal provides vital health and long-term care coverage to 6.5 million low-income children and their parents, elderly, and disabled Californians. As the largest source of federal funds to California, Medi-Cal's impact is felt throughout the health care delivery system. California HealthCare Foundation’s (CHCF’s) Medi-Cal work focuses on improving program enrollment, access to care, and quality of care.

Governor Schwarzenegger, in his proposed budget for FY2004-05, announced his intention to seek federal approval to redesign Medi-Cal in order to contain costs while avoiding deep cuts in eligibility or benefits. The modifications under consideration represented fundamental changes to Medi-Cal - the most significant changes since the program began in 1966.

CHCF and The California Endowment, two large statewide foundations, decided to support a "stakeholder input" process to allow people around California to learn about and provide input to the Governor’s plan. "In the Medi-Cal Redesign Initiative, we needed to quickly and effectively disseminate information to the public and facilitate the process of public input," said Margaret Laws, Director of Public Financing and Policy at California HealthCare Foundation. "The best way for us to do that was to design and develop a Web site devoted to the Medi-Cal Redesign Initiative."

Providing the Medi-Cal Redesign information to the 1,000,000 plus people around the state quickly and updating it was the most important criteria for CHCF in selecting a Web design/development firm. In addition, CHCF needed a Web firm that could design a site that was responsive to the public’s needs, including those people with disabilities. "We made a firm decision to choose Marker Seven to design and develop our Web site. Not only did they come highly recommended, but Marker Seven had the experience and expertise necessary to get the job done," said Laws. "From the get-go, Marker Seven understood our business objectives and presented a plan that adhered to our severe time constraints."

A series of work groups have been created to support a process to solicit, receive and organize public input and technical expertise on the State's proposed Medi-Cal changes and to make suggestions for new ideas for the program. The Work Group section provides the cornerstone of the Web site, allowing the public to access vital information about the meetings, get regular updates and link to informative resources.

In addition to the work group requirement, CHCF also had many other informational sections needing quick update capability. Some of the other requirements included: a centralized database of all participants in the Medi-Cal Redesign Process made available via the Medi-Cal Redesign Web site, frequent Webcasts that enabled participants to join meetings via the Web site, and group e-mails sent to over 1,000 participants keeping them informed of upcoming events. Most recently, Marker Seven added a syndicated feed from the California Healthline.

Since the Medi-Cal Redesign Web site is to provide information to the public, including those with disabilities, the navigation needed to be easy-to-use and the design easy on the eyes. To meet the needs of the visually impaired, Marker Seven developed a special adjustable font feature that resizes the text throughout the site, simply by clicking once on ‘text size.’

"The Web site was more involved than originally anticipated," explained Laws. "Marker Seven was exceedingly flexible and responsive to our last minute additions and changes. Most importantly, the site has become extremely valuable and the single point of contact for our readers."

Medi-Cal Redesign has not only proven to be quite useful to the people of California, but is also an example for other states to mimic. "The site was designed to serve as an archive for historical data and a single point of reference for meetings, Webcasts, etc.," said Laws. "Several other states have acknowledged our efforts and plan to use our model moving forward."

In one month, Marker Seven completed the new Medi-Cal Redesign Web site. "It was critical that our Web site be up and fully functional in the shortest period of time," said Laws. "Marker Seven exceeded our expectations. We look forward to continue to work with Marker Seven to update and maintain our Web site."

Governor Schwarzenegger, in his proposed budget for FY2004-05, announced his intention to seek federal approval to redesign Medi-Cal in order to contain costs while avoiding deep cuts in eligibility or benefits. The modifications under consideration represented fundamental changes to Medi-Cal — the most significant changes since the program began in 1966.

For more information, see www.medi-calredesign.org

About Marker Seven
Marker Seven is a premier provider of Web-based solutions designed to maximize business sales and communication efforts. Headquartered in San Francisco and founded in 2000, its skilled, cross-disciplinary team tackles every facet of Web development with a common bond and vision - to deliver value, high-quality work, and exceptional service. Marker Seven's professional team of business strategists, designers, and technical experts deliver solutions tailored to each client. Proven ability to understand client's business issues and technical needs allow its team to hit the ground running, take ownership and fully manage every project. Marker Seven remains focused on and dedicated to each project, delivering a polished look with clarity and consistency. Whatever the initiative, Marker Seven implements and delivers success.